Notnegotiable, Nonrefundable
by hyperpsychomaniac
Summary: The Sphere takes a 'water tax' from its 'citizens'. Sometimes, they take a little bit more. And there isn't a damn thing you can do to get it back.


**A/n: **Okay, so I suddenly had the urge to write this fic... and I wrote it... not much to say beyond that. Enjoy... not that... it may be the type of fic that is enjoyable... but yeah... read it...

* * *

"They're definitely heading for Puerto Angel?" Cortes asked, ever so slightly on edge.

Cheng, seated with his laptop in Cortes' cabin where he had been observing the pirates' ship tracking system, nodded. "Yes, sir. Two Sphere patrollers. They'll be here in under five minutes."

Cortes nodded then continued pacing, his actions almost making the cabin appear smaller than it really was, although there were only two other people, the Vector and Dahlia, to take up the space. "Alright, two patrollers. That probably means they want to check up on our water tax."

"Yeah," Dahlia agreed, "but they aren't due to collect that for another two weeks."

Cortes shrugged. "Close enough. That just makes us two weeks late."

"They're going to want a lot of water, Cortes," put in the Vector. "You're stingy enough with paying the tax as it is."

"I'm not giving them anymore water than we need to to keep them off our backs!" Cortes snapped. "You want them to keep coming back, because we just roll over?"

The Vector sighed. Cortes was exaggerating, probably because he was nervous. "Well they don't usually pay Puerto Angel much heed," he conceded, "though I'm not entirely sure that's to do with you holding back."

Cortes glared at the Vector for a brief moment.

"I suppose it's my turn to be 'in charge'?" the Vector asked, not wanted the conversation to descend further into an argument. Even though, he admitted to himself, he had kind of started it.

Cortes sighed. "Actually, it's Wayan's. But I don't know where he is at the moment…"

"They'll be here any minute…" Cheng reminded them.

"Alright, Vector," Cortes conceeded. "I suppose you'd better go meet them. Cheng, I want you to stay here. Dahlia, find Lena and Mahad, make sure they know to stay out of sight. And don't let Mahad try to be a hero!"

----

Cortes would've happily faced the Guardian who stepped out of his patroller and onto Puerto Angel's soil, preferably with a loaded gun and a few choice words. But he was the leader of the pirates, and the Sphere knew him as such. There was just too much risk that a Guardian would recognise him, or that a Brig had his image programmed into its memory files.

In order for the Sphere to believe Puerto Angel was completely harmless, they had to present someone who wouldn't set off any alarm bells, and who would relay the message Cortes wanted to convey – preferable minus the aforementioned choice words.

"We're here to collect the water tax," said the Guardian to the Vector as he walked up to him in the village's square. He seemed just a little bit cranky, which was mostly likely due to being given what he considered a crappy mission. "Who's in charge?!"

"Ah, yes. That would be me…" said the Vector, fidgeting nervously. He wasn't really nervous. Not much anyway, but it gave the Guardian the impression he was more in control of the situation than he thought.

"Right…" the Guardian sneered. He pulled out a hand held calculation device. "So…" he continued, apparently so bored with his job that he needed entertainment, "streets are pretty deserted… is everyone hiding? Or wiped out by some sort of plague?"

"Um… just hiding…" said the Vector, continuing his act.

All of the pirates were where it would be difficult for them to be found, unless an extensive search was made. The rest of the people were inside their houses – mostly for their own safety.

The Vector was the only one outside, save down a small alleyway, where Cortes and Wayan watched the exchange. They were close enough to hear and see what was going on, but still out of sight if the Guardian happened to look their way. If anyone actually came poking around, they would be able to retreat out the other end of the alleyway and to a safer hiding place.

At any rate, it afforded Cortes a decent vantage point. Wayan also thought it was a good position, because it was possibly for him to shush the captain if he got angry over the Sphere's demands, without being heard.

"I think he's enjoying himself…" Cortes muttered.

Wayan assumed he meant the Vector. "Well… he does seem to convince them to only take a little…"

Cortes threw him a look. The Sphere never took 'little.'

"… relatively speaking."

Back out in the town square, the Guardian had finished making his calculations. "Right… as I don't have the time nor patience to find out where the inhabitants of this pathetic block are hiding, I'm going off last year's population, plus projections… plus a correction factor," here he smirked slightly. "We'll be asking for 500 kiloliters of water."

The Vector's mind did its own quick calculation, but he could already tell that that amount was exuberant. "I think you may have miscalculated…" he said, trying not to upset the Guardian. He'd lost some of his nervous act however; he wasn't happy.

Down the alleyway, Cortes had come to the same conclusion. He said something under his breath – of either the Guardian or his correction factor – which Wayan only just heard, and was sure he would not have said if anyone younger had been around.

"You have a problem with that?" scowled the Guardian. He took a step towards the Vector, and pointed at his calculator. "I took a bloody statistics class! I know how to use this!"

"I'm sure you do," the Vector agreed. His nervousness had all but completely gone now, he was too angry over the price the man had set. Right now, that anger was strong enough to keep down the fear he should've been feeling, even as he was still aware he had to be careful.

He knew Puerto Angel would struggle to meet that demand. Even with the Saint Nazaire. There was no large enough water source they had in their sights, and if they couldn't find one to replace the water that the Sphere wanted to take then they could be in real trouble.

He did in fact believe the Guardian knew how to calculate – it was far more likely he had simply fudged the calculation just to get the figure the Sphere wanted.

"Do you have any intention of paying?" asked the Guardian.

"No," Cortes growled from his spot in the alley.

Wayan rested a hand on the captain's shoulder, reminding him to keep his voice down.

"I'm not sure if that is possible," said the Vector, trying to keep calm. "Our water supplies are quite low at the moment…"

"It's not really a question you can say no to!" snapped the Guardian.

"It's a physical impossibility. We simply don't have that much water on the block, at this time. Now, if you want to work something out, maybe we can pay in smaller amounts…"

"Shut up!" the Guardian shouted, annoyed his job was proving far harder than he thought it should be. "It was never a question you stupid old man! You give us that water _now_, or…"

"We don't have it," said the Vector, slowly and clearly.

Energy flared on the Guardian's fists.

Cortes had barely tensed at the lights appearance when the Vector was hurled backwards by an excessively huge ball of Seijin energy and thrown to the dirt meters away from where he'd just been standing.

Cortes yelled something. He would've been discovered had it not coincided with the crack of energy. As it was, Wayan had to physically throw his arms around him to stop him dashing from the alleyway. He got elbowed in the stomach for his efforts, but Cortes quickly realised he couldn't help without putting the block in danger. He slumped to his knees and made no further attempt to move.

The Guardian himself seemed surprised by his actions. But his attention was on his still glowing hands, his surprise more over how his anger had expressed itself, rather than the consequences. He scowled, and then shook his hands as if to dissipate the energy, before recomposing himself.

He stood stationary for a moment, his eyes roving around the town square. His anger grew again when no one appeared.

This was because Cortes had given the residents of Puerto Angel clear orders – they were to stay indoors as long as the Sphere was there, unless doing so proved dangerous.

"Alright, fine!" the Guardian shouted, beginning to pace the town square, all but ignoring the Vector's crumpled body. "But that 500 kiloliters _will_ be paid! You have two days then I'm sending a water transport! So you'd better pay up, or you'll get worse than _that_!" he jabbed a finger towards the Vector, without really looking.

With that, he turned on his heel, shouted at the Brigs that accompanied him, and strode onto his S22.

Cortes stood up then, attempting to shrug off Wayan.

"He still might see you…" Wayan protested.

"He's not bloody looking!" Cortes snapped, roughly throwing Wayan's arm from around himself and pushing the other man back.

Wayan let him go.

Cortes crossed the square as quickly as he could. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest from the anxiety he was feeling. He just couldn't know how hurt the Vector was until he got to him, and that seemed to take an eternity.

But then he was at his side and kneeling down. He stopped at the last moment as he reached out his hand, scared of what he might discover or of hurting the Vector even more.

"Vector…" he finally said, placing a hand as gently as he could on the man's shoulder.

The Vector groaned weakly.

Cortes started, almost not expecting that much of a response.

The Vector was on his side, his face almost in the dirt. Cortes rolled him over carefully, supporting him with one knee and an arm around his shoulders.

"Just…" Cortes swallowed hard, noticing that the Seijin's blast had left the front of the Vector's shirt blackened, never mind what sort of damage it might have caused underneath. "… hang on. I think Wayan's gone to get the medical team."

The Vector had been disorientated after the Guardian threw him to the ground, and he was sure he must have passed out for awhile. The next thing he knew he could hear Cortes, and then he felt himself shifting, causing a wave of agony to pass across his chest and down his left arm.

He cracked open his eyes and saw Cortes above him.

"You're going to be okay…" said Cortes, his voice uncharacteristically thin.

The Vector could guess what Cortes was seeing, and what conclusions he was drawing, from the way he was looking at him. He felt for Cortes hand, felt the younger man squeeze his hand back, and keep hanging on.

The Vector forced a smile. "You and I both know that's not true."

Cortes swallowed then blinked a couple of times as he tried to absorb that statement. "I… you're not…" He drew in a breath. Suddenly he was unable to think of the most important thing he wanted to say, and he may have the chance to say only one thing. "You know I can't do this without you…"

The Vector attempted to shrug. But it hurt too much, so he just smiled again. "You never listened to me much anyway."

Cortes tried to protest, but then he saw the Vector's eyes loose focus. "Vector!" He couldn't… And then he felt the man's hand lose grip on his. All of a sudden, the Vector simply wasn't there anymore.

Cortes' vision blurred, and his chest physically hurt. The Vector had always been there. Ever since Cortes had started to lead the pirate rebellion, even before, he'd always been there. _One single blast of stupid Seijin anger_. He swallowed again, and then held the Vector's body closer for a single moment.

A hand rested on his shoulder. "Cortes…"

Cortes let the Vector's body back down onto the earth. "He's gone, Wayan." He stood up, letting the medical team get to the Vector, though there was nothing they could do for him now.

Wayan kept his hand on the captain's shoulder, though his eyes were on the Vector, and he couldn't look away. "Are you going to be…?"

"I'm fine," Cortes answered, though he now couldn't stop the tears that had managed to bridge his barrier. He drew in a breath, for the moment not caring. "Wayan. The water carrier. The one that's coming here in two days for the water tax."

"Yeah?"

"It's not going to get here. It's going to run into a pirate ship."

Wayan swallowed, and nodded. "Yes, sir."

Cortes stared at the Vector's body, watching as the medical team carried him away. "That Guardian better pray he isn't aboard."

Wayan finally managed to tear his eyes off the Vector, and looked across at his captain. He didn't doubt that statement for a minute.


End file.
